Not Your Cinderella
by secretwriter18
Summary: When you have a goal in life, when you're completely and utterly focused on attaining what others say is impossible, nothing can throw you off of the path that will lead you to said goal. But what no one ever tells you is that the road to achieving your dreams is never straight and sometimes, just sometimes, taking a different path is worth it in the end.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**Okay, first things first: I swear I have been meaning ot update BI, but something got in the way and then I got writer's block and….well. Things have been a little messy around here. But, for anyone who cares about what I write, I decided t give you something for being so patient when it comes to the new chapter of BI (I feel like I can hear crickets after I say that, because seriously, who would care about what little ol' me writes?) Also, thank you for all of the reviews and follows on it; it mean so much to me that people take the time to read and tell me what they think of my writing, or that they even follow it/. I know I'm horrible with updating, which is why it means so much more to me. Anyway, love for the followers and reviewers of the story aside, I have a new one **

**I owe this one to my best friend/sister, Ashley, who gives me the most amazing ideas without even realizing it. She reads all of my tuff and tells me I'm wonderful and to never stop writing and anyone who likes how I write has her to thank for me posting at all. She's a never ending source of encouragement and love and I am dedicating this story to her. Love you babe **

**Anyway, recently I've become obsessed with BTR and I have no excuse for my unabashed fascination with Slash fan fiction in this fandom. I love it to death and some of the writers have serious skills. BUT, besides my fluctuation between whether I like James or Carlos more and obsessively checking the site for any new stories of them, this is a story about Carlos and an OC. With my name. Because I'm cool like that. I hope you like it and that it's not too terrible. Let me know-Read and Review please!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

Chapter One: Soccer Captain

Standing on the dew drenched grass with bare feet, I shivered, looking up at the clear blue sky; for the smallest moment, not a sound could be heard on the field-I was completely alone and completely at peace.

Then, in the stillness, an irritated voice said from beside me, "Do we seriously have to get up this early? Even the coach isn't up this early. You're just being an overachiever!" A grin crossed my lips, a soft laugh escaping as I looked over at one of the girls I was proud to call my team mates. "You're just irritated because you haven't had your coffee yet. Don't get your underwear in a knot, Samantha dearest. Besides, you're the best goalie we have and we need you to be in top form, which means early mornings before school. If we wanna beat this team, if we wanna beat Duluth, then we gotta bust our asses to get physically fit for the match." She rolled her eyes then whined in a pitiful voice, "But we've won every single match we've ever played since you were captain-can we please just have one morning off?" I snorted lightly, clasping my hands together and raising my arms above my head, arching my back backwards until there was a satisfying crack. I tilted my head from side to side, popping my neck, and then proceeded to pop my knuckles. She glared at me, hating the sound-but I sighed in relief, relaxing as soon as I was done. "So. I'll make you a deal. We warm up for ten and then we practice, light, for twenty, and then we're done for the day and we can go and shower and get ready for class, yeah?" She groaned but acquiesced, her bare feet moving to kick the ball up so it could bounce off of her knee. I caught the ball with my own foot and grinned as she rolled her eyes, muttering, "Show off."

I shrugged, flicking the ball up and catching it in my hands, eyes searching for the other girls on the team. True to their habits, they were all sitting on the bleachers, bleary eyed and looking like, for lack of a better description, the undead in The Walking Dead. I sighed, picking up the whistle around my neck and blew it loud and clear. They jumped, startled into being more aware. "Come on girls. Shoes off and on the field! Now!" They glared as they did what I ordered-but hey, if they worked like I did then they would be the captain and they would call the shots; however, they didn't and I was. So they would have to deal with how I wanted things to go. So, with several glares and hateful comments that I didn't care about because they didn't mean it, practice began. Sam, in her infinite knowledge of me and how I liked to test people, knew when I said "light" it was all a farce and that they would be working their rear ends off for the next twenty minutes. The only thing that would be "easy" about this practice would be that it was twenty minutes instead of fifty like the usual. I was cutting this practice In half and they'd better be grateful I had to meet the only person who could actually get me out of soccer practice before 7:50. Said person needed help studying for something and I wasn't going to be responsible if she failed… although, I had a sneaking suspicion that Sam had caught onto how my best friend and I worked and would ask her to intervene on their part. I had yet to prove the theory but when I did, I would make all of them run an extra set of ten laps just because the thought of it pissed me off.

Feet moving automatically as I thought about my best friend who was probably waiting outside of the locker rooms, I shot a clean pass into the goal, making it past a sleepy Sam. I glared at her halfheartedly, sighing in fondness as I looked at the half awake crowd of girls behind me. We had only been out here twenty minutes. Would it kill them to wake up for thirty minutes? They could sleep in class like they always did; just give me solid thirty minutes of exercise. "Fine, you bunch of lazy sloths, head in!" I yelled, startling them again, just for the hell of it. I headed for the benches, jogging faster than they could have ran at the moment and grabbed a towel, wiping my feet off and sliding them into a pair of tennis shoes. I had been out here since about six, when the sun was just rising, and they couldn't spare thirty minutes to pull together. Sometimes I wondered how we had won all of those games like last season. But maybe it was just that we need to get back into a routine. We had been out for an entire summer and school had only been in for a few days….not even a full week. This would be the first full week we had. Sighing I stood up, nose wrinkling at the feeling of the sweat making the shirt I wore cling to my skin. Idly looking around as I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair so I could pull it onto a better ponytail, I spotted someone on the edge of the field. My eyes narrowed, body stilling as I realized I didn't recognize the person…and the person wasn't exactly female. The all-girls portion of the soccer team practices were for girls-I had made that clear to all of the boys who had wanted to come and "observe".

Yeah, observe. I'd buy that when a snow blower was needed in hell.

So who was this guy? He had a death wish. Draping the towel over my shoulder, I jogged in his direction, nostrils flared, already irritated from the lack of cooperation from my team; this guy was the cherry on top of the sundae, really. I reached him within a few seconds and was brought up short for a second; he looked so innocent, all bright blue eyes and blonde hair. I had the suspicion he wasn't a natural blonde, but it didn't matter at the moment. I leveled the most irritated glare at him I could manage, saying, "You've got ten seconds to explain to me why you're on this field when there's an all girl's practice currently in session. I made it clear to all male persons who came onto this field that while my team was practicing, they were not welcome." He was silent, looking a little shocked for about two seconds. My eyes narrowed. "Eight seconds," I snapped, feeling more than a little pissed off now. "Well, I'm on the boys' soccer team, and being their new captain, I thought it would be best to see how my female counter part worked her team, so that maybe we could be as successful as she was last year." Impressive, I noted mentally. He had done it in five, leaving three seconds to spare. Then what he had said clicked; an eyebrow arched and I couldn't help but grin. "You're the new captain? Seriously?" His eyebrows rose to where his hair would have fallen, had it not been styled up. "Why does that surprise you?" My grin quivered, threatening to turn into a full blown smile at the image of him yelling. I couldn't picture it. "Don't you have to….um, be able to be intimidating and yell?" I said, amused.

"I could say the same for you. You're about as frightening as an angry kitten," he said, his tone dry but fairly hospitable. "True, but the consequences of not listening to me are far worse than just doing what I say, so they tend to take me seriously or they'll be doing laps in sets of ten around the field until they learn to keep their mouth shut and do as they're told, because in case they didn't know…Captain knows best-walk with me?" I offered it as an afterthought and he nodded, following with his hands in his pockets. "You practice every morning?" He asked and I nodded. "Yeah. They're just ill at me because they've had all summer off and while I've been conditioning, they're been going to the beach and being lazy. I take soccer very seriously; I intend to become a professional one day, but first, I have to manage to get this team together. They'll be fine by Wednesday. I usually ease them into the full hour of early morning by the end of the week. The afternoon practices are better. And it doesn't matter how good you get-even if you can do it in your sleep, you do it every single day. Letting up means you're in a comfort zone and if you want to win, that's something you can't do. You can't let up and make yourself believe you don't need the practice. Your teammates will hate you until you win the trophy, but they will be grateful. Especially when we go against Duluth; that game is especially important because we have this while we-hate-you-die kind of rivalry with them. But, again, if you help them win, you get their respect and they listen even if they don't like it."

He listened as we approached the benches and I grabbed my water bottle, opening it and taking a long swig from it as he spoke. "You really care about your team, yeah?" I nodded as I swallowed, a small smile playing on my lips as I watched the last one go inside the doors. "Yeah, I do. Well, that and I have someone to meet in about fifteen minutes. So, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the locker room and get a shower so I don't smell absolutely appalling." I went to walk off, but turned around, a half smile curving my lips. "What's your name?" I asked, embarrassed that I hadn't asked before. "Niall. You?" I laughed gently, saying, "Just call me Phoebe and we'll be good. Well, see you Ni." I jogged off towards the building, grateful to get inside of the doors where the cool air was and made my way to the girl's locker room, where most of the girls were either in or had already finished rinsing off from the practice. "I don't see how you need showers-you barely broke a sweat!" I jibed for the hell of it, mood already lighter even though there were several muttered curses and complaints. Sam walked out, a towel wrapped around her, her grey eyes sparkling with humor. "So, who was the guy you had to shred a new one?" I rolled my eyes. "Turns out, he was the new captain for the boys. Said he was observing how I worked the team or something like that; I don't know. He talks fast and has an accent, so I'm not sure." I tossed the towel onto the bench, straddling it so I could wait for a turn in the showers. We had plenty of time. It was only seven thirty.

She moved to pull on a fresh suit, one that was appropriate for school As soon as she had her under wear on, I looked up at her to hear her say, "What kind of accent? You'd better not tell Ashley if it's-" "Irish," I finished for her, grinning. She snorted, putting on deodorant and pulling on a shirt before she responded. "It'll be love at first sight. Just try to keep her in the bleachers at the games, okay?" Maddie, one of our better kickers, exited the shower stall she had been in, blonde hair damp and her blue eyes bright. "Was he cute?" Ah, of course. I should have expected this; I wrinkled my nose in clear distaste. "How the hell am I supposed to know? He's a guy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, pale as snow. Innocent like a kitten-" I was interrupted mid-description by a different voice. "-and not a cheerleader," one of the girls in the stalls jibed. "Watch it," I told Emily, who giggled, poking her head out. "Oh, come on. You walked right into that one," she said amicably; I could give her that, but it didn't mean I would let her off easy. She stepped out with a towel around her and I stood, moving for the stall she had vacated, grabbing the toiletries bag I usually carried with me. It only took me a few minutes to wash my hair and get all of the sweat off of me. I sighed as I toweled off and then stepped out of the shower stall, towel wrapped firmly around me. Most of the girls were dressed and leaving by the time I got out of the shower-I still dressed as quickly as I could, sliding into a pair of dark jeans and a plain purple shirt. I slipped into a pair of flats as I pulled my hair into a bun and picked up the only piece of jewelry I voluntarily wore.

It was a black string and it had a single charm on it-a small purple dolphin. I then proceeded to put in the jewelry I was forced to wear by my one and only best friend who said I did actually need to dress like a girl outside of the field. I slid in the earrings into all nine slots and grabbed the shoulder bag I used for my books, tossing my soccer stuff into a duffel bag and shoving it into the locker I'd had for three years. A small part of me wondered why I let Ashley manipulate me into wearing crap like this. I didn't like the jewelry-for all I cared, the holes could grow up and I'd never wear earrings again. But, Ashley had the unique ability to convince me to not only keep the four sets of earrings I had, but to get a cartilage piercing too. She was very good with pretending to sound innocent in her intentions and making me believe she was sincere. Well, one day it wouldn't work, I reassured myself as I pushed out of the locker room we used and walked up to the door that led to the private hallway where the female locker rooms were. I pushed the door open to see the aforementioned best friend leaning against the wall, eyes locked on her phone as she scrolled through what I guessed to be her twitter account. I sidled up to her, looking at her phone. Yep, she was on twitter. " You know, at some point, you're going to have to admit that it's an obsession." She shook her head, eyes trained on the screen and her lower lip caught between her two front teeth. "Not an obsession," she said absentmindedly eyes never leaving the screen.

She looked up a couple of seconds later, flashing me an innocent smile. I didn't buy it but I went along with it just to humor her. "So…how long have you been waiting here?" She shrugged, answering as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Well, I got here at seven and came inside at ten after…so maybe thirty minutes? The boys have been by, couldn't miss the noise. I think they were complaining about some new guy on the team." She pocketed her phone, pushing herself off of the white wall and turning to face me fully. "You ready to go to our future boredom.?" I smiled at her, thinking of the captain of the soccer team and said, "Of course. Let's go," before linking my arm with hers and walking down the hallway.

She had no idea of what she was in for.


	2. Chapter 2-Cheer Practice

A/N: I should have put this with the first chapter; it is incredibly short. And also a bit of a filler, but I needed to introduce Carlos and I had felt, upon writing the first chapter, that putting him in the first chapter would have been a bit too soon. So, he's in the second chapter. Anyway. Enjoy this update because more will be coming wither later in the week or early next week :)

Disclaimer: I won nothing except for the laptop I type this on; I especially don't own BTR. Although that would be nice.

Chapter Two

Staring absentmindedly at the sheet in front of me, I wondered why in the word I was being forced to attend a class like Trigonometry. How in the hell was I going to use something like this in a soccer career?

Okay, I knew how I would use it, but it didn't mean I had to hate the fact that I had to take the class any less. I glanced up at the clock, seeing we had only five minutes left; I resisted the urge to pack my bags. If I did that, the teacher would most likely make us stay until the bell rang. She hated it when we packed up before the bell rang, even if it was one minute beforehand. My team thought I was tough-but they had nothing on Miss Hendrix. She was old, but she was one of the toughest teachers we'd had yet; I could tell she would be awesome, even if people (most likely including me) would hate her. She spoke, telling everyone to hand in the sheets we had been assigned; I passed mine to the front of the row like everyone else and she told us to pack our bags; we had two minutes left and she didn't want to see us any longer than she had to. I slid my folder into my bag along with the text book I had been given, pulling the bag up to put it on my desk. Idle chatter started, filling the room with a hushed noise-and about a second before the bell rang, a ball of paper hit me gently on the side of the head. I picked it up eyebrows drawn together as I pulled apart the crudely made ball-only to see a blank page. I looked up-and again, I saw a pair of bright blue eyes and a too wide smile with blonde hair. "You know, that's kind of childish," I pointed out, pulling the strap of my back securely onto my right shoulder, squeezing paper into a ball and tossing it at him, hitting him right on the nose. I grinned, winking at the shocked look on his face before walking out of the classroom.

I was halfway to my locker before he ran up, catching up with me. That had been the last class of the day and I had to go to after school practice with the team. "Hey, kitten, wait up!" A familiar lilt called out; I slowed down, turning my head to give him a curious glance. "Kitten?" I asked and he shrugged. "You remind me of one; small, innocent… anyway, that's not the point, kitten. You're distracting me," he said, sounding exasperated. I snorted, coming to my locker and opening it. "And the point is?" I prompted when he didn't continue. "I was wondering if maybe we could use the same practice field in the mornings. Would it be okay for me to bring the guys out? I'm thinking about trying your strategy of making them hate me," he said, braces glinting against his teeth as he grinned at me. I bit my lower lip as I made sure I had all of the books I needed. "Well… As long as you stay on your half of the field and as long as your boys try not to ogle my team mates, I suppose. But the second one of them feels uncomfortable, you're off the field. Got it, Irish?" I gave him the sternest look I could muster and he nodded, placing a hand on his heart. "I swear on my Mullingar jersey," he said solemnly and I arched an eyebrow. "Home team," he clarified and I nodded, spotting Ashley coming up behind him. A smile curved my lips and he turned to see what made me smile-and froze, eyes going distant and lips parting in shock. "Who's that?" He murmured as she stopped to talk to someone-Emily, one of the girls on the team-and I snorted.

He snapped into the present, a blush coating his cheeks. "That, Irish, is my best friend and one half of the cheerleading co-captain team. Like what you saw?" I taunted and he glared at me, the pink tinge coating the tips of his hears. I nearly-very nearly-started laughing at him, but decided to be a little kinder to him. Ashley all but skipped towards us and she came to a stop, confused as she looked at Niall. "Hi. Do I know you?" Ah, I loved her subtlety. I bit my lower lip to hide the laugh bubbling up as Niall floundered for words, for something to say. I cleared my throat, gaining their attention, and said, "This is Niall, Ashley, the new captain for the boys' soccer team. He's the transfer kid from Ireland; came here a year ago, remember?" She looked surprised but held her hand out for him. "Well, Niall, I'm Ashley Youngblood and it's pleasure to meet you." A smile formed on his lips and he seemed to finally regain speech as he said, "Pleasure's all mine." He let go of her hand, saying to me, "I'll be there with the boys bright and early. See you tomorrow." He then proceeded to walk away like he sincerely never wanted to come within a hundred mile radius of the school ever again. After he walked out of the door, I couldn't help but let the laughter bubble out. Ashley was genuinely confused, not having seen his reaction to seeing her. "Phoebe, that's mean; you shouldn't laugh at him-I think he likes you!" The laughter stopped at her words and I shook my head fiercely. "Oh no, ash, he likes you. It's not me. Believe me, I ripped him a new one this morning there's no way he likes me."

She rolled her eyes, her cheeks turning pink at the thought, and I sighed. "Let's go get changed. We need to get this over with." She nodded, following me to the locker hallway. I went to the soccer girls' locker room and she went to the cheerleaders; I pulled out a pair of clean shorts and a shirt, sliding them on along with a pair of tennis shoes. I pulled my hair out of the bun it was in and put it into a better on, taking all of the earrings out of my ears. I took off the necklace, putting it all into a small baggie and tossing it into the duffle bag. I pulled out the protective gear I needed to wear and my whistle, sliding it on before I zipped it up, picking it up along with my shoulder bag and moved for the door to the locker room. Most of the girls would already be out on the field, tossing the ball around. As I came out of the locker room, Ashley came out of hers, wearing a tired smile and looking like she didn't want to go to the practice and deal with all of the yelling she'd have to do. In all honesty, I knew how she felt; it sucked to have a team that didn't want to cooperate; I knew exactly how it felt and it made me want to rip my hair out sometimes. Having people who thought they could get by just by joining the team made me want to scream. They usually got kicked off within the first few days of training. Frowning, I spoke to her gently as she walked up to me. "Go to cheer practice, make your minions work hard, and I'll meet you at the parking lot in about two hours, okay?" She nodded, tiredness stealing over her features as I squeezed her hand. The things we did for this school…we needed an award or something.

True to my suspicions, they were, laughing as they tried to keep it in the air. I tossed my stud onto the bleachers and jogged out, calling, "Put me in!" Maddie tossed to Sam, who kicked it to me. I caught it on my toe, bounced it on my knees for couple of seconds, and then started dribbling it. "Get your shin guards on, girls," I said, already wearing mine. Several groans were heard-and Sam was the only one who stayed on the field, wearing her shin guards and her elbow pads, being the goalie. I kicked the ball gently to Sam and she stopped it like it was a reflex. "So…five on five?" I said as I looked back at the team. She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Won't get any goals past me anyway." I loved it when we practiced in the afternoons. Sam was always so confident. I loved seeing my goalie confident. "That's my girl. We're gonna flatten Duluth as long as you kept hat attitude," I said and she shrugged, grinning. The girls piled back onto the field and I called out orders-five on five and we would play for the first til ten. They grinned-this would be a good game, I knew. I picked the whistle up, balancing it in between my upper and lower lip as I moved to the middle of the field. The girls took their positions, a gleam in their eyes I liked to see... And this, this was the team I needed; this was the team that won the state championship for two years in a row. I took pause for a second, taking a deep breath and it caused the girls to break out in smiles; they didn't mind the whistle-this was the first unofficial practice game we were having and the whistle signaled, to them, the beginning of the season.

I blew the whistle, tossing the ball into the air, and knew as I watched Maddie catch it with the side of her foot, that we might not be perfect-but we were gonna be one hell of a team to contend with this year.

C2C2C2C2C2

An hour and a half later, I called an end to one of the best practices I had seen. The girls let out a cheer, running for the school to where the locker rooms were so they could shower and change.

I grabbed my bags from the bench, moving a little slower than everyone else. I was always the last one off of the field; now would be no different, even if it was because my left calf was smarting like hell. Sam draped an arm over my shoulders and I looked up at her, smiling. "You gonna go see vampy before you go to change?" I nodded, tiredness creeping over me as I thought about having to go all the way into the gym. "Reckon so. She'll be pissed of I don't," I said, ignoring the chuckle I heard from the red haired girl next to me. "My accent is not funny," I muttered and she giggled. "You think it's not-but it really is cute, you know. Although, cheer boy wouldn't know that, would he?" I glared at her and she smiled sweetly at me before jogging for the back door that led to the locker rooms. I headed for the gym instead, taking a swallow out of my water bottle. For all the crap I gave them, they knew how to dish it right back-well, it wasn't all that hard when it came to someone like me. I wore my emotions on my face like an open book and it just so happened that I turned an alarming shade of red when I came anywhere near Ashley's co-captain on the cheerleading team….who happened to be male and one of the best looking guys in school. The fact that he was a competitive cheerleader just added to how awesome he was. I bit my lower lip, sighing as I thought of when, if ever, he would stop being the Achilles' heel in my high school career. I was waiting for the day with a lot of hope that it would be soon.

I pushed open the back door to the gym, moving through the short hallway where the two classrooms were for the driver's Ed, and pushed through another door to go into the main area of the gym. The floor had been freshly waxed and the mats were out as Ashley ran them through the drills they would turn into routines. Carlos was at the front with her; I decided not to go to the bleachers, taking a seat against the wall next to the door. My bags hit the floor with a silent thud and I took another swallow out of my water bottle before pulling my hair into a better bun. I kicked off the tennis shoes I had been wearing, flexing my toes in my socks as I watched Ashley start yelling at some of the freshman she had let onto the squad. I unzipped y bag, pulling out my necklace and sliding it on before pulling my phone out of my bag and plugging my head phones in, the sound of Cher Lloyd filling my ears and blocking out the yelling. I tapped the twitter icon, going into my account and checking a few things, sending a few tweets to update everyone on the team to be up bright and early for the next morning-and that the boys would be on the field with us. Since they had a new captain, we would try to be peaceful. Niall seemed like a pretty cool guy. I closed the twitter app, leaning my head against the wall and closing my eyes, feeling tired I listened to the music for the next half hour, waiting for Ashley to be done with everything. When my phone vibrated with a new tweet half an hour later, I checked the clock at the top of the screen and then looked around the gym to see everyone gathering their stuff.

I stayed put, seeing Ashley talk to Carlos about something, laughing. I envied her for a brief moment as I wrapped the headphones around my phone, sliding it into my pocket. I wasn't gonna shower before I got home. I would go home, shower, and eat….and then sleep for the next century after doing an hour of homework before getting up at the ass crack of dawn just to hear complaints about how life wasn't fair; really, how did my life get to be so awesome? Ashley talked to him for another minute, nodding at something he was saying, before she spotted me. She waved me over, a smile spreading over her face and I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the blush rising to my cheeks as Carlos turned around to see who she was waving at. I purposely didn't look as I picked up my bags and then straightened up, moving towards the pair. I stopped beside Ashley, saying tiredly, "Are you ready to go? I need a shower and a heating pad for my calf. Maddie kicked the crap out of me and I'm not completely positive it was an accident after I yelled at her about how she wasn't getting her shots right and I may or may not have called her a blonde bimbo-Okay, okay. Maybe I deserved it," I said sheepishly at the glare Ashley gave me. I really did. Maddie had been screwing up her shots towards the goal and I called her a blonde bimbo. A minute later, I was crippled on the field, screaming at her for being an idiot. She was supposed to kick the ball, not _people_. She hadn't even looked a little sorry and it led me to believe that maybe she was just a little pissed at me.

Ashley sighed, saying, "One of these days, they're going to mutiny and string you from the flagpole." I snorted, ignoring Carlos successfully as he watched the conversation. "Yeah. If they would put forth the effort they do into being lazy into practice, we wouldn't need to practice so much. I'm not scared of a mutiny. I'm more scared of them getting a sprained ankle." She rolled her eyes, sighing. "You're just an overachiever. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Litos. You better ace that Trig test or I'm gonna get you." He smiled at Ashley, warm and bright. "Sure you will. It was nice seeing you, Phoebe. See ya, Ash, I'm gonna hit the showers." He jogged off before I could form a reply, cheeks tinged a bright pink. Ashley giggled at my expression, saying, "You know, one of these days, you might remember the English language when he speaks to you." "Doubt it," I muttered, shouldering my bag better. She slung an arm over my shoulders, leading me out of the gym with a grin I wanted to wipe off of her face. She talked about idle nonsense as we made our way to the car. I climbed into the driver's seat and started the car as she continued to ramble about how the freshman were probably going to get booted off by the end of the week. I turned on the radio, the volume soft and on a pop station we both agreed on. We both liked it and it stopped a lot of arguments in the car (there had been a lot of those in the beginning). But, as I pulled out of the parking lot and began the short drive home, my mind wasn't on the radio or the road I was driving on.

Ashley's smile was ignored because she knew the images dancing in front of my vision weren't of soccer or incompetent freshmen on the cheer squad; it was the image of a bright smile against tanned skin and dark eyes that danced with amusement.


End file.
